ALEXANDER, JAMES W., II

born Sept. 19, 1888, Sea Bright, N.J., U.S. died Sept. 23, 1971, Princeton, N.J. in full James Waddell Alexander Ii American mathematician and a founder of the branch of mathematics originally known as analysis situs, now called topology. The son of John Alexander, the American painter who created murals for the Library of Congress, James studied mathematics and physics at Princeton University, obtaining a B.S. degree in 1910 and an M.S. degree the following year. In 1912 the mathematics department at Princeton invited him to join the faculty, a position he held until 1933 when he was asked to join the newly created Institute for Advanced Studies, also in Princeton, N.J. Alexander thus became one of the institute's initial members. He remained with the institute until his retirement in 1951. Alexander's interest in the relationship of geometric figures that undergo transformation led to his developmental work in topology.